Born on December 22, 1960, in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., and passing away on August 12, 1988, in New York City, American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat is most known for his raw, expressive style of painting, which often featured images reminiscent of graffiti and words written across the canvas.
As a child, Basquiat lived in a comfortable middle-class Brooklyn household. His mother’s family was from Puerto Rico, but she was born in the United States. She was essential in Basquiat’s development as an artist, as she frequently took him to the world-renowned galleries of New York City.
After his parents divorced, he and his sisters spent 1974–1976 in Puerto Rico, living with their dad. His mother was institutionalised after being diagnosed with mental illness. Basquiat, who had a traumatic upbringing, left home at the age of 17 without finishing high school. With fellow taggers Al Diaz and Shannon Dawson, he started a graffiti movement while living on the streets, with pals, or in abandoned buildings.
In his short career, Jean-Michel Basquiat went from being a graffiti artist and downtown punk scenester to a major celebrity and art star. After roughing it on the streets of New York City for a while, he made friends with pop artist Andy Warhol and quickly rose to prominence as one of the most acclaimed painters of the Neo-Expressionism art movement in the United States.
\Even though Basquiat was only 27 when he died with a heroin overdose, he has become inextricably linked to the 1980s renaissance of interest in New York’s downtown art scene.
His legacy and the value of his works have grown significantly in the years since his passing; in 2017, one of his paintings broke the record for the highest sum ever paid at auction for the work of an American artist.
Who Was Jean-Michel Basquiat?
American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (French pronunciation: [ mil baskja]; born December 22, 1960; died August 12, 1988) was a prominent member of the Neo-expressionist movement of the 1980s.
In the late ’70s, when rap, punk, and street art converged to form early hip-hop music culture on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Basquiat originally rose to prominence as half of the graffiti duo SAMO, along with Al Diaz, creating cryptic epigrams.
His paintings had already been shown in museums and galleries around the world by the early ’80s. Basquiat, at the age of 21, was the youngest artist to ever exhibit at Documenta, held in Kassel, Germany. When he showed at New York’s Whitney Biennial, he was one of the youngest artists to do so (he was 22). In 1992, a survey exhibition of his work was presented at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Using social commentary in his artwork, he was able to reflect on his own experiences as a black man, find common ground with other black people, and rail against racist institutions and ideologies. His visual poetry was fiercely political, with strong messages against imperialism and in favour of the working class.
Basquiat’s art has become increasingly valuable since his death at age 27 from a heroin overdose in 1988. Untitled, painted in 1982, is a black skull with red and yellow rivulets; it was one of the most expensive paintings ever sold at auction in 2017, fetching a whopping $110.5 million.
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Early Life Of Jean-Michel Basquiat
When Basquiat was still a resident of New York City’s Lower East Side, he became known mostly for his graffiti art. Using the alias SAMO, he “tagged” numerous structures with cryptic messages such “Plush safe he think…SAMO.” His later success was directly tied to these idioms and his own sense of style. At the same time, he was employed at a shop called Unique Clothes Warehouse.
It’s also worth noting that Basquiat would show up in Downtown 81, an indie film produced by O’Brien. At a restaurant one night he crossed paths with the world-famous artist Andy Warhol. He allegedly showed Warhol some of his work, and the pop artist was shocked by Basquiat’s obvious ability and creativity for someone so young. After that, they worked together on a number of different ventures.
Young Basquiat had a tremendously fruitful first half of the 1980s. In 1980, he would show in The Times Square Show, hosted by Fashion Moda and Collaboration Projects Incorporated.
Also, after joining the Annine Nosei gallery in 1980 and having great success with his first solo exhibition in the gallery’s basement, he was invited to participate in a group show that same year. A magazine story titled “The Radiant Child” brought even more notice to him and his work. One may argue that this was the first time he received widespread acclaim in the art world.
Death Of Jean-Michel Basquiat
Basquiat’s personal life was a wreck by the time he was in his late 20s, despite the fact that he had reached the summit of the art world. Also, heroinism isolated him from others in his final years.
After a trip to Maui, Hawaii, where he tried to kick his heroin habit. He returned to New York and overdosed on August 12, 1988. At the Great Jones Street studio he had rented from the Warhol estate. He was 27 years old. Basquiat joined the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison. And, later Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse in the controversial “27 Club” after his untimely demise. All of them were only 27 when they passed away.
According to Newsday writer Karin Lipson in 1993, who summarised his meteoric rise to popularity. “The ’80s, for better or worse, were his decade.” Mask-like, sneakily ‘primitive’ pictures and scribbled inscriptions and phrases adorn his canvases. Which can be found in the most chic of collections.
He dressed in Armani and dreadlocks, and he was a regular at the uptown restaurants and the downtown club scene. He amassed massive wealth. Yet, those who knew him well were aware of his flaws. His tumultuous relationships with art dealers, his lavish lifestyle, his grief over the death of Warhol. (who passed away in 1987) and his relapses into drug addiction.
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Conclusion
One of the most significant 20th-century African-American artists is Jean-Michel Basquiat.
His influence on art is undeniable, yet his brief life and terrible death mar his legacy. Let’s have a glance at a quick biography of his life and works.
Basquiat’s art, which was part of the neo-expressionist movement, combined drawing, painting, poetry, text, and historical facts to shed light on issues such as racism, classism, colonialism, and the Black experience. In his brief career, he created an astounding body of work, including roughly 1,500 drawings, 600 paintings, and a wide variety of sculptures and mixed-media pieces.
